Canglan Realm.
Divine Light Sect.
The morning bell chimed continuously without pause. All the disciples woke, glowing with vitality as they breathed in and out to refine qi.
The sounds of morning practice resounded throughout the sect.
Vigor filled the air.
On Seven Colors Peak, Qi Yuan lay on his bed. The morning bells grated on his ears, so he covered them.
A wooden cat puppet opened its mouth right on cue, squawking:
"Time to wake up!"
"Time to wake up!"
With a flick of his hand, Qi Yuan stuffed a dried wooden fish into the puppet's mouth, choking off its voice at once.
Shifting into a more comfortable position, he went right back to sleep.
As the saying went: The sun hangs high while I sleep alone; who is an immortal? I am an immortal!
God knew how much time passed before Qi Yuan lazily opened his eyes.
He drew in a deep breath.
"Mmh, the air in this other world is pretty sweet."
Qi Yuan had once been just an ordinary face in the crowd on the Blue Star, transmigrating to this world half a year ago.
Unlike his previous world, this realm held the extraordinary—it held immortal cultivators.
Through a stroke of luck, he had entered the Divine Light Sect and become a disciple of Seven Colors Peak, as well as its sole disciple.
After washing up and dressing neatly, Qi Yuan left his residence.
Yesterday, his master had sent down a message instructing him to handle a few matters.
Standing halfway down the mountain slope, Qi Yuan looked up toward the summit. It thrust high into the clouds, shrouded in ethereal immortal mist.
He gazed at the palace nestled in the clouds and murmured, "Another day of missing Master."
At the peak, the clouds stirred for an instant, then dispersed as if nothing had happened.
His master resided up there and had set a restriction forbidding Qi Yuan from ascending.
Qi Yuan did not notice the clouds gathering and parting on the mountaintop as he strolled down Seven Colors Peak.
Today was the Divine Light Sect's disciple recruitment ceremony.
He was to represent Seven Colors Peak, one of the sect's five peaks, in selecting new disciples.
Seven Colors Peak was vast, yet it held only him—a thoroughly disappointing disciple. The sect had more than a few complaints about that.
Of course, the Peak Lord of Seven Colors Peak was formidable, so those complaints had to be kept to murmurs.
However, Qi Yuan's current state had finally tested even the Peak Lord's patience, which was why she intended to take in a few more disciples.
Qi Yuan ambled down the mountain.
Partway down, he paused.
There was a large tree standing several zhang tall. Looking down from above—
[This is a rather unusual blade of grass. Three days ago, True Monarch Kumu and the Empress of Great Shang had a secret rendezvous upon it.]
Standing beneath the great tree, Qi Yuan swept his gaze across the tender green grass on the ground, and a string of text surfaced in his mind.
He blinked in surprise.
If he remembered correctly, when he came here a few days ago, his eyes had shown him:
[This is an ordinary blade of grass. Four days ago, a stray dog peed on it.]
"Well, this grass has had quite a life."
About a month ago, Qi Yuan discovered that something was strange with his eyes—he could see things others could not.
For instance, the first time he looked at the cultivation manual his master gave him, the Seven Colors Fire Refining Art, what he saw was:
[This is a Jade-grade cultivation method. It contains a total of 1,371 prominent flaws, along with various other defects.
Cultivating it to the supreme realm will turn you into nourishment for a certain unspeakable entity.]
Back then, Qi Yuan had been stunned when he read that.
He went to examine other cultivation methods.
Most were roughly the same.
A supreme realm?
Nourishment?
Far too distant?
None of that should have concerned a lowly Qi Refinement cultivator.
Of course, his cultivation happened to be stuck at Qi Refinement as well.
Because according to what his eyes revealed, the moment he broke through to the next realm, his status as future sustenance would be sealed.
Thus, Qi Yuan had been searching for a suitable cultivation method all this time, making his own efforts toward that goal.
...
In the main sect hall, divine light radiated in all directions.
The white-haired Kang Fulu sat cross-legged in midair, holding a horsetail whisk.
Behind him stood the eldest disciples of the other peaks, tall and straight.
Kang Fulu looked down at the hundreds of newly recruited disciples who had passed the entrance trial, wearing a pleased expression.
Then, remembering something, he asked slowly, "Has anyone from Seven Colors Peak arrived yet?"
"Senior Brother Kang, that Eldest Senior Brother of Seven Colors Peak... you know what he's like," a man in gold robes said in an undertone.
Hearing this, Kang Fulu said nothing more.
Right at that moment, an announcement rang out: "Eldest Senior Brother Qi Yuan of Seven Colors Peak has arrived!"
Following the voice, Qi Yuan appeared before everyone clad in white robes, standing straight with a jade jue ring hanging at his waist, striding forward against the light.
Many Divine Light Sect disciples and new recruits looked toward Qi Yuan with varied expressions.
"I can't believe Senior Brother Qi Yuan actually came down the mountain!"
"He's even handsomer than the rumors say."
"What a pity. Such a dashing figure, yet..."
"Yet what?"
"His behavior is bizarre—he's not right in the head!"
"Huh?"
"Well, not entirely. It's just that his cultivation is different from ordinary people. He belongs to the 'Obsession' lineage. Every cultivator of that branch has an eccentric temperament!"
"A mental case of the cultivation world? Can't mess with him, definitely can't mess with him."
"Don't let his madness fool you; he's a genuine genius. He has remarkable insights into cultivation, and plenty of senior brothers and sisters go to him for guidance."
The cultivators below murmured among themselves, many looking at Qi Yuan with peculiar eyes.
In the Canglan Realm, there were Three Never-Provokes:
First, never provoke doctors. Second, never provoke sword cultivators. Third, never provoke obsessive cultivators.
Doctors commanded the healing arts, treating injuries and saving lives.
Any cultivator could end up wounded in battle at any time and need a physician to heal them quickly; hence, one never crossed a doctor.
Furthermore, doctors were usually skilled at concocting exotic poisons and venomous pills that killed without a trace, so people avoided offending them whenever possible.
Sword cultivators possessed astonishing combat prowess and were decisive in slaughter; one stayed clear of them if at all possible.
Obsessive cultivators, on the other hand, were an entirely different breed.
Cultivators of this lineage focused on fixating wholly on a single thing.
It might be a sword, a flower, or a person.
Extreme obsession inevitably meant something was wrong in the head.
Such cultivators were dangerous to provoke—who knew when a madman might suddenly snap?
And Qi Yuan was a cultivator of the Obsession lineage.
"Junior Brother Qi Yuan, you're a bit late," Kang Fulu said mildly.
"Slept too late last night." Qi Yuan yawned.
Seeing this, the eldest disciples of the other peaks held their tongues.
Kang Fulu said, "Now that everyone is here, let us begin recruiting disciples."
Presently, most of those gathered in the square were disciples who had just passed the entrance trials.
The eldest disciples of the various peaks were responsible for selecting candidates to join their respective peaks.
Kang Fulu stepped forward, looked down at the hundreds of new disciples, and said slowly:
"The Divine Light Sect is one of the three great immortal cultivation sects of Great Shang."
"Congratulations to you all for passing trial after trial. From this day forward, you are disciples of the Divine Light Sect."
Hearing this, the hundreds of young men and women in the square grew excited.
After all, the Divine Light Sect was indeed one of the three mightiest cultivation sects in the country of Great Shang.
Entering this sect meant stepping far above ordinary mortals in a single leap.
Kang Fulu was very pleased with the crowd's reaction and continued:
"The Divine Light Sect consists of five peaks, and you may choose one to join."
"This is Zhuge Miao, Eldest Disciple of Divine Medicine Peak."
"This is Xu Yiyi, Eldest Disciple of Myriad Methods Peak."
"This is Qi Yuan, Eldest Disciple of Seven Colors Peak."
"This is Kuangren, Eldest Disciple of Battle Peak."
"And I am Kang Fulu, personal disciple to the Peak Lord of Five Lights Peak, son-in-law to the Sect Master of the Divine Light Sect, master synthesizer of the Five Lights Sacred Art, founder of the Lesser Sun Technique, and Chief Eldest Disciple of Five Lights Peak."
As the white-haired Kang Fulu spoke, five-colored divine light conveniently blossomed above his head, making him look incomparably dazzling and conspicuous.
Indeed, Kang Fulu was known as the biggest show-off on Five Lights Peak.